


Nothing to Fix

by Arcwin



Series: Ficlets [6]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, POV Pepper Potts, Protective Pepper Potts, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-10 17:47:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20855765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arcwin/pseuds/Arcwin
Summary: Tony and Pepper sitting by the lake in Endgame, enjoying some quiet together.





	Nothing to Fix

“It’s...something, you know?” he says, staring out at the lake. The wind makes his hair dance, waving it around like seaweed at the bottom of the ocean. “I’ve always spent my life being so busy. I never stopped, didn’t want to, even.”

I smile, then take a seat next to him on the bench. We both sit for a while, just breathing. He doesn’t need me to answer him. He knows I know. It isn’t even something he has to explain, not to me. But he needs this, I think. Needs to get his thoughts out, needs to put his demons on display so he can banish them properly. I feel like I’m not supposed to be here for this, but I don’t want to leave. He needs  _ me _ . I don’t think he doesn’t want me to leave, but then again, he’s always been a bit of a voyeur. One of his best and worst traits.

God, I love him.

“How is it that I can just sit here and be still?”

I’m not sure if he wants an answer. I don’t say anything, just reach out and put my hand on his knee. He rests a warm hand on mine, lacing our fingers together, and throws an expectant glance at me. “Not rhetorical this time, Miss Potts,” he says with a smirk.

I can’t help but smile back. “You don’t have anything else to fix.”

“Well, that’s not true. I could always redo the shed, or add another floor, or--”

“Tony, that’s not--”

“I know, you’re right.” He pauses, turns on the bench and gazes at me with that look that he always gives me when he’s letting all of his defenses fall away. When he bares it all, his heart and soul, and shows me the fullness of love hiding behind his ribs. It’s remarkable, and it’s a secret between just us. Not even Happy knows about it, though I’m sure he’d love it. 

“I don’t have anything else to fix,” he echoes, wheels turning in his head as he considers it. “This implies I’ve fixed it all, which I’ll definitely take credit for.” The guards are already lining back up again, hiding his vulnerability behind humor and bravado. The glimpses he gives me are more frequent now, and deeper. I’ll take what I can get, even as I see the mask slide back onto his face.

“Maybe it’s not that it’s all been fixed. Maybe it’s that what’s left can’t be.” It’s a suggestion that, as it leaves my mouth, I regret. Tony is a fixer. He always has been, and he always will be. He fixes and he fixes and he gives and he gives until he’s literally collapsing on the floor near death. He might take this as a challenge. He might take it as a failure on his part. He might take it in so many ways that could propel him to action, breaking him out of this contemplative, peaceful state. I wait, nervous, hiding the pounding of my heart behind a soft smile, as I always do when it comes to Tony.

“Hm,” is all he says, looking back out at the water. We sit together for a long time after that, our hands still entwined, staring out at the lake. The breeze dances along the top of the water, making tiny ripples and waves that lap gently at the shore beneath our feet. Above us, a chickadee calls, answered on the other side of the lake high in the trees by its mate. My heart slows, a calm thudding in my chest that makes me lazy and relaxed.

Tony brings our hands up to his mouth, kissing mine gently. “This is nice,” he says with a soft glance over at me. “I like not having anything to fix.”

I chuckle under my breath. “Liar.”

He laughs too, a low rumble that barely leaves his lips. “Not this time.”


End file.
